Two posts over the past few days have made me want to write this. First off, I couldn't agree more that there is this tendency to make our lives seem so much more interesting than they really are on blogs, and too many style blogs take this tendency much too far. I mean, how many gallery openings, coffee outings with friends, and nice restaurants can one blogger go to in the space of one week? We all forget that there's hard work involved to be able to afford those occasional fun things, but it's also because the rest is not often mentioned. It's refreshing when someone does say, I'm a little tired of that, here's the rest of the story. It sure does put things in perspective for the rest of us who think, why am I even trying, my life will never be that great and exciting.
If I let myself be completely honest about my doubts and fears every time I'm writing a post, it would go like this:
☞ In theory, I know what I'm doing when I'm pressing the shutter. In reality, I often forget to make sure the background is free of all sorts of crap, or make sure my subject's nose isn't at a weird angle with the background. I also forget to check for unbecoming shadows sometimes. I know a few techniques and have this checklist in my head that I just forget when I see something worth capturing, so I end up with photos that could have been better if only I'd taken my time.
☞I'm really terrified of asking people if I can take their photo. A few times, I've walked past someone whose portrait I really wanted to take and I had business cards on hand to give them, but I just chickened out.
☞I have a lot of things to explore in this city that is still new to me and instead, most days, I just stay home and worry that I'm not good enough, or cool enough to go to this coffee shop, or that gallery.
I've let myself get really hurt by uncalled for comments from people whose work I don't even like. I have to keep repeating to myself over and over "who cares?" but it never works.
This post brought to you by Anne's insecurity, rearing its ugly head on a regular basis since 1984, and "I don't divulge too much about my personal life on the internet".
* Title courtesy of Jess Constable.
